Yahoo! User Interface Blog

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1. A long time ago the table for GBS showed C-grade and X-grade browsers. Is there a more comprehensive list available somewhere?

   I’ve always thought the Yahoo! GBS concept is reasonable guide when thinking about the browser version problem but I don’t remember seeing its manifestation in code. I haven’t looked in detail in the YUI libraries for a while but I don’t remember any code in the libraries that helped developers ensure that C-grade browsers would receive a C-grade experience. Something like feature testing required features before defining a widget. Is there something I missed on how Yahoo! implements this philosophy?

   Comment by Peter Michaux — July 3, 2008 #

2. Hey Peter,

   In the past, the slots on the A-grade chart that happened to be C-grade were marked as such. But that gave an incomplete picture of the C-grade membership (Lynx isn’t in the chart, for instance), so I removed it.

   You’re right that a technology piece is missing. It’s in the works. Stay tuned…

   Thanks,
   Nate

   Comment by Nate Koechley — July 3, 2008 #

3. What should I answer my bosses, if they tell me: “We won’t use YUI, because it is not tested on Linux.”?

   Do your developers use Linux and could this be counted as a kind of test? Or is it sure, that it will work on Linux, if it also works on Mac and Win?

   Could you add a comment about Linux to the browser support page that helps me to advocate for Linux?

   Thanks!

   Comment by Thomas Koch — July 3, 2008 #

4. Sorry: To advocate for YUI, I mean. :-)

   Comment by Thomas Koch — July 3, 2008 #

5. How about support for GNU/Linux browsers? I’d expect FF in this overview… ?

   Comment by Tonci — July 4, 2008 #

6. Hi,

   We use a similar chart based on a mixture of this and the BBC’s version.

   I’m interested in the decision to continue support for FF2 in Windows XP but not Vista. Could you explain the thinking there?

   David

   Comment by David Owens — July 4, 2008 #

7. @Thomas, @Tonci,

   As the documentation for GBS says, “The only practical difference between A- and X-grade browsers is that QA actively tests against A-grade browsers.” Mozilla ensures that Firefox is highly consistent across various operating systems; we ensure that the YUI experience on Firefox on the platforms used most by our users is highly consistent. Following the GBS approach, we therefore trust that a solid experience in A-grade environments will also provide a solid experience in X-grade environments.

   If you find cases where this is not true, please be sure to report them for analysis.

   Please also read my response to a similar question from an earlier post.

   Hope that helps.

   Thanks,
   Nate

   Comment by Nate Koechley — July 4, 2008 #

8. @David,

   First, while many people have updated to Firefox 3, there are still many Firefox 2 users. So I think it’s important to continue to provide some test coverage for the Firefox 2 branch.

   Second, each instance of A-grade support is expensive in terms of resources, because we run comprehensive tests on each instance. Therefore, reducing instances is beneficial.

   Since Mozilla strives for cross-OS consistence, I’m more concerned with testing the FF2 branch as a branch instead of each OS instance of that branch.

   The compromise I arrived at was to provide A-grade support to the Firefox 2 branch on one Windows and one Mac OS instance.

   Make sense? Suggestions? Comments?

   Thanks,
   Nate

   Comment by Nate Koechley — July 4, 2008 #

9. […] Browser compatibilità […]

   Pingback by Compatibilità « i blog di MP — July 4, 2008 #

10. Nate,

    Interesting about your compromise for FF2. I had wondered the same thing. Do you have a budget for the number of A-grade green boxes you are allowed in the table?

    Thanks,
    Peter

    Comment by Peter Michaux — July 4, 2008 #

11. Why was the choice made for Yahoo to extend A-grade support to Safari 3.0 on Mac and not to 3.1 or to Safari on Windows?

    Could you also provide a list of what Yahoo extends C-grade support to separate from the chart?

    Comment by Chris Griego — July 4, 2008 #

12. Re: the GNU/Linux comments — I develop using Firefox on Ubuntu and YUI 2.5.1 and I’ve never had any problems. Makes sense that you’d like more official support but I thought I’d throw that out there.

    Comment by Matt — July 5, 2008 #

13. […] Yahoo! has upgraded their browser support gradings. From the Yahoo! User Interface Blog: […]

    Pingback by Art Duszynski » Found Elsewhere » Yahoo: Graded Browser Support Update — July 7, 2008 #

14. @Peter - No budget, but I try to maintain empathy for all my developer and tester friends.

    @Chris - C-grade chart is in the works. Safari on Windows receives X-grade support. Safari will be 3.1 shortly.

    @Matt - thanks for the testimonial. That’s been my experience as well.

    Comment by Nate Koechley — July 7, 2008 #

15. Note that the chart has been corrected to include Safari 3.1†, replacing Safari 3.0†. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    Thanks,
    Nate

    Comment by Nate Koechley — July 8, 2008 #

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